Chase Headley

PHILADELPHIA -- Daniel Murphy hit a tiebreaking double after Carlos Delgado's second solo homer had tied the game in the eighth and New York beat Philadelphia 6-3 on Wednesday night to reclaim first place in the NL East. Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer and Jayson Werth homered for the Phillies, who fell a half-game behind the Mets in the division. Cubs 2, Pirates 0 PITTSBURGH -- Jason Marquis allowed five hits over seven innings and Chicago turned two well-placed bunts into two runs in the seventh that gave the Cubs a three-game sweep.

The thing about stretch runs is, you have to get going. Get the wheels moving, the wins tallying up. The Dodgers came home, greeted September and went 3-4 on their homestand after Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Padres before an announced crowd of 50,560. That's hardly the way stretch drives are born, though with the Giants losing the Dodgers did not lose any ground in the National League West , and with the Cardinals losing they did not lose ground in the NL wild-card race.

SAN DIEGO_The Seattle Mariners ' offensive road show powered forward on Friday at cavernous Petco Park , as the team banged two more home runs away from Safeco Field . But the Padres won this battle of the bats, led by the unlikeliest of sluggers_pitcher Clayton Richard , normally a semi-automatic out but a force against Kevin Millwood . In leading San Diego to the 9-5 victory, Richard drove in three runs with...

The third time, the magic wasn't to be for the Dodgers . It was there for the taking, almost teasing them, but this time they were unable to come up with the dramatics. After winning their last two games with walk-off hits, the Dodgers again went into extra innings Tuesday, at which point a walk-off was the only way they could win. Only this time it was the Padres who came up big, scoring three times in the 11th inning to earn a 6-3 victory before an announced crowd of 40,619 at Dodger Stadium . John Ely, making his first appearance of the season, allowed four hits in the 11th.

The third time, the magic wasn't to be for the Dodgers . It was there for the taking, almost teasing them, but this time they were unable to come up with the dramatics. After winning their last two games with walk-off hits, the Dodgers again went into extra innings Tuesday, at which point a walk-off was the only way they could win. Only this time it was the Padres who came up big, scoring three times in the 11th inning to earn a 6-3 victory before an announced crowd of 40,619 at Dodger Stadium . John Ely, making his first appearance of the season, allowed four hits in the 11th.

The thing about stretch runs is, you have to get going. Get the wheels moving, the wins tallying up. The Dodgers came home, greeted September and went 3-4 on their homestand after Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Padres before an announced crowd of 50,560. That's hardly the way stretch drives are born, though with the Giants losing the Dodgers did not lose any ground in the National League West , and with the Cardinals losing they did not lose ground in the NL wild-card race.

NL WEST Arizona Diamondbacks LHP Doug Davis went four innings, allowing six hits, three walks and two runs. Colorado Rockies Brad Hawpe was back in the lineup after missing the last 11 games with a bum left elbow. He finished 2-for-3 with a double and a triple. He also drove in four runs. . . . 2B Marcus Giles said after the game that he was informed by the team that he could be traded. . . . INFs Jonathan Herrera and Joe Koshansky and LHP Josh Newman were optioned to minor-league camp.

We have less than a week now until the non-waiver trade deadline. As Buck Showalter says about trade talk, "[it's] good for the fans and that's the bottom line. They like it. It keeps them engaged. " OK, so let's get engaged -- and no you don't have to have a few shots at the bar and drop to a knee for that. I'm allowing you to pick one guy who is rumored to be on the trade block and add him to the Orioles' 25-man roster. You don't even have to tell me who you are giving up to get him (though that makes it more interesting.

Houston Astros manager Cecil Cooper and the Minnesota Twins' Ron Gardenhire were fined undisclosed amounts by Major League Baseball for failing to comply with pace of game regulations last weekend. Injury bug hits Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers put RHP Brad Penny on the 15-day disabled list with a sore shoulder that has bothered him for much of the season, then sent RHP Hiroki Kuroda back to Los Angeles to have a sore shoulder examined. Griffey misses big night Ken Griffey Jr. was sick on Tuesday, keeping him out of the Cincinnati Reds' lineup on the night picked to honor his 600th home run. Manager Dusty Baker said Griffey became ill Monday, the team's day off, and wasn't feeling much better.

Matt Kemp hit more home runs, drove in more runs and stole more bases than Ryan Braun did last year. Braun's Brewers advanced to the playoffs; Kemp's Dodgers did not. And Braun won the National League most-valuable-player award. "I think the main reason I won the award last year was because we had a better team than the Dodgers had," said Braun, who grew up a Dodgers fan in Granada Hills. "I honestly thought Matt had a better season than I did. " Braun is in the MVP race again, but his Brewers will not repeat as NL Central champions.

SAN DIEGO_The Seattle Mariners ' offensive road show powered forward on Friday at cavernous Petco Park , as the team banged two more home runs away from Safeco Field . But the Padres won this battle of the bats, led by the unlikeliest of sluggers_pitcher Clayton Richard , normally a semi-automatic out but a force against Kevin Millwood . In leading San Diego to the 9-5 victory, Richard drove in three runs with...

PHILADELPHIA -- Daniel Murphy hit a tiebreaking double after Carlos Delgado's second solo homer had tied the game in the eighth and New York beat Philadelphia 6-3 on Wednesday night to reclaim first place in the NL East. Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer and Jayson Werth homered for the Phillies, who fell a half-game behind the Mets in the division. Cubs 2, Pirates 0 PITTSBURGH -- Jason Marquis allowed five hits over seven innings and Chicago turned two well-placed bunts into two runs in the seventh that gave the Cubs a three-game sweep.

The Kevin Youkilis trade on Sunday was just the first of what baseball insiders predict will be an avalanche of big-name swaps before the July 31 non-waiver deadline. Unfortunately for Phillies fans, the name at the very top of every list of supposedly available stars is Cole Hamels . The lefthander is just one of a slew of quality pitchers said to be on the block. Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports also listed Milwaukee's Zach Greinke, the Cubs ' Matt Garza , Oakland's Brandon McCarthy , Houston's Wandy Rodriguez and Kansas City's Jonathan Broxton as those up for grabs.

Clayton Kershaw notched his 200th strikeout for the third consecutive year. Andre Ethier collected his 1,000th hit, a solo home run. But the feats weren't enough, as Logan Forsythe 's two-run single led the San Diego Padres to a 6-3 win over the Dodgers in 11 innings Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium . Forsythe's hit in the 11th inning was followed by a run-scoring single by Chase Headley , and both came against reliever...